Young Writers Society

Rupert Jean Franz

"Hey mom! Welcome back to good ol' gloomy Seattle!" I plastered the most cheesiest smile for her.

A lot of people say I took after my father with my facial features. But others' say I took after my mother. It might have just been the eyes with her.

She didn't look a day over forty, thanks to the Botox and thousands of dollars on makeup that layered her face. Her body was taken care of with two workouts a day at the gym and morning yoga. She was the stereotypical representation of a rich white woman.

We were at the airport. I had picked her up from her business trip to London. It was packed, people had swarmed everywhere around us and the intercom never shut up.

Mom had a baggage handler help her with her five bags, Louis Vuitton of course. She had on a white teethed smile as she approached me, lowering her sunglasses down her nose. Her skin was so tan, it was like she was at the Bahamas for her trip rather than London.

"Baby, how are you? I missed you!" she wrapped her arms around me gently, barely touching me. "I wish you came with me. You would have loved London." she said as she pulled away.

A cold tingle went through my body when she touched me, typical bodily response. I just kept on smiling at her, feeling my cheeks attempt to give out.

"School is a priority, remember that Ma." I responded.

"Oh, yes..." she blew me off and looked behind her at the two baggage handlers. "Let's go to the car boys, you'll get a nice tip for this, I promise."

Nice tip? If you count splitting five dollars between two people a nice tip, sure.

***

We were back home and I already missed having the house to myself. I could hear my mother blabbering to her Bluetooth about the next party slash event she was planning for the beginning of school. She always did this. I guess it showed that she loved me a little?

It was a party/event to get teens and adults alike ready for the school year. Have that one last party of the summer to start the school year just right.

And to show the whole city who really is the best here. The best is Francis Sofia Katherine Franz, my mother, the gold digger.

Ha, don't think that she married my dad because he loved him. That'd be a sin to love the man you marry. She learned to love him over time, but, sadly, she caught him at a young age, they were both 21. She knew he'd go far after passing all his exams with straight A's and getting his first job as a lawyer at the age of 23. Look at him now! He has his own business which holds over one hundred attorneys.

How proud.

Maybe she loves him now. I'll never know.

"Rupert! Rupert! Come here for a moment." my mother had yelled down the stairs.

I was in the basement in the storage room, looking for my soccer jersey. My futbol jersey, sorry. My mother had made me call soccer futbol ever since my dad got a raise in his old job ten years ago.

What were we? British?

I stopped rummaging through the boxes and walked out of the room into the living area of the basement then the stairs. My mom was standing there with her six inch heels. Her Bluetooth headset was attached to her ear, always at the ready.

"Baby, I need you to go to the store and pick up these things for me." She waved a note. "We are having the party this weekend, Saturday. So we only have a few days to get ready. Thank you honey."

She spun on her heel but before she could go anywhere, I spoke up.

"I was going to play some futbol at the park. To practice on my game before heading back to school." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Oh honey, do that tomorrow. This is more dire." She giggled.

"How is a party more dire? Explain that to me."

"Do not talk back to your mother! Rupert, what happened to you?" Her eyes met mine and I felt like I was staring into a dead soul.

"I was always like this, don't forget it."

"Rupert, now. You can play your sport after shopping, alright? Please do this. Your father let Rodrigo..." I cut her off.

"Robert," I huffed.

"Whatever, have a day off so I can't ask him to buy me these things. It's a small favor from your mother."

I huffed in response and she smiled, walking away from the basement door.

We did have a home staff that worked for us, but when they were gone, I mostly made them go home. I never told my parents so they could get paid. But sometimes I kept them because I knew I'd get caught if they didn't at least clean the house every few weeks. Robert happened to be my mother's assistant, a house wife's assistant. It's a thing... in this household. He did the shopping, the planning, and the driving. Only driving if needed, we had a driver as well.

I texted Colette, 'wanna go shopping with me? I'll explain later.'

Isabelle

"So you have an extra room for me Aunt Jenn?" I asked her, her service was terrible for someone who lived in a big city.

"I think so baby girl. Why do you want to come down here when it is so much better up there?"

"Believe me its best you not know what's going on." I sighed and laid against my couch while listening to her yell and Kaleb and Jazzmine. They were only 5 and 8 and were the cutest kids I knew... Besides beautiful baby Issac.

"okay darling, I'll see you in a couple weeks. Love you and stay safe." The phone clicked and then I was alone again. Talking on the phone was the only thing that kept me sane.

Izz... I honestly think he would be okay if he found out you had a baby. it was James again. Ever since I told him what was going on he has been trying to get me to change my mind.

No one knew what I was going through. All of this mess could have been avoided if I would have simply just used protection.

I was sitting by the kitchen counter when all of a sudden I had an excruciating pain in my right side. I sat on the floor waiting for it to go away.

I picked up my phone from the floor. I dialed 1 and clicked send.

It rung twice and I heard the familiar voice.

"Oh Paul... Please... Help... Me...I ... Need... You."

I laid on the floor holding my side. All I could think about was if my baby was okay. Tears rushed and then I saw black.



@Nike I miss Paul so please post!

Paul Jenkins

I can't exactly pin point how I felt when I saw her number blink on my phone screen. Yes, I was that guy who deleted contacts after they left my life. But her number remained burned into my skull.

When I answered, I didn't know what I was expecting. But it definitely wasn't this. She was still on the other end, just crying. And I couldn't do anything.

"Ba--" I was going to say 'Babe' but I had to stop myself. "Issy..." my heart hurt, just her crying made me feel helpless. "You need to tell me what's going on."

"Pa--ul, I... I..." her crying prevented her from speaking.

She didn't know this. No one knew. But I wasn't even in the same country as her. I was in Spain. The sun was up high, greeting me to five in the morning. Birds chirped just outside my window, happier than I was about being up. Though, I couldn't be too mad, I'm talking to Isabelle.

My hotel room was at the very top floor of the Hilton. You got a great view of Madrid from here, people looked like specks of dust.

"I'm pregnant,"

I sat up in my bed, almost dropping my phone. My skin felt too tight as I tried to breathe. She was taking shallow breaths on the other end.

"Isabelle," was all I could let out.

"I know." She huffed. "I know, I know I fucked up. How could I let this happen? Who am I? I should have been more careful." I don't think she even took a breath.

"Hey, wait, look... shit happens." I started. "I'm sure you didn't want to get pregnant... but shit happens. Not everything can one hundred percent protect you."

"Paul! I don't need this right now!"

"I'm trying to make you feel better about this..."

"Obviously that isn't working... I need you."

No matter how badly I'd want to hop onto a plane and go to her, I just couldn't. I had to work. And in this business if she gets involved... I don't want her to get involved. I don't want anyone to know she even exits. I need to protect her from me.

I huffed, "I know you do, but you can't do this. You need to move on." my heart broke just saying this.

I heard her gulp, "What?"

"I phrased that wrong."

"No, you didn't."

"Isabelle."

"No, it's-it's fine... I gotta go."

"Is... no. I love you."

That's where the line went cold, I actually assumed she hung up on me. But I looked at my phone and saw that the call was still going. The tension that set was so thick that I felt like I couldn't breathe.Someone had knocked on my door. Looking up, the maid came in with a big smile on her face and a thick Spanish accent lined her voice.

"Then why would you say that?" She finally spoke up.

"Because," I watched the short older woman walk around me room, cleaning up my trash. "I'm in Spain,"

"You're, what? Since when?"

"Since, a while." I smiled. "That's why you need to move on, I can't come back. Not right now at least. And I wish I could leave and go to you and help you. Oh God, you don't know how much I'd want to just run out of here and take care of you. But I can't. And I'm fucking sorry."

"If I was Dafnie, you would." Her voice was strained.

"We are not doing that again, are we?" I laughed.

I started to get out of my bed as the lady waved at me and left my room. A warm breeze blew in form the windows, welcoming a new morning. It was time to get myself ready. I had a meeting at seven that I could not miss.

"I'm sorry." she sighed.

"It's fine," I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry that this happened to you."

"I'm sorry too."

I could actually imagine her in her bed all cuddled up. Her eyes wide and her body shaking. I'm sure it wasn't easy for her.

"Does the... dad know?" I questioned.

She took a deep breath. I found my way to the bathroom, which seemed to always surprise me with it's grandness. The walls were all white, as were the floor tiles. All the amenities were refilled and new, as if using the same towel twice was a sin.

"No," she replied.

"Maybe if he knew, he could help? It is partly his responsibility."

"Philip already has one kid, he won't want this one."

"Ha, Philip! He's really good at this." I laughed, knowing it probably broke her heart.

I took a look at my watch and read the time. Five thirty, I had to get ready. I had a meeting an hour out from here so going now would be great.

"Look, Is, I gotta get going. I'm really sorry I couldn't help you."

"It's okay... can I cal--," and I hung up on her.

Dafnie Serena Leto

I didn't sleep with him.

But, why do I still hate myself?

It was weird being in this position, feeling like... dying. Wanting to die. It didn't feel real. Why would I want to do this? Because I'm a whore? A lot of whores are happy for who they are. Why couldn't I be happy too?

Because that's not me.

That's. Not. Me.

My room felt too small. I couldn't breathe. My lungs were too tight. My brain was foggy, I couldn't think and yet I couldn't stop thinking.

I couldn't lay here, I had to go back to work. I couldn't keep missing work. My boss would have my head for this.

"Aye, lazy ass! Go to fucking work!" My father yelled up the stairs.

Why was he even here?

"She's going to live under the bridge anyway, let her stay there Ann. If she wanted to accomplish something with her life, she'd be on her way to work." I heard him talk t o my mother.

This was the normal thing from him. But somehow, it still felt like a new blow as tears fell down my cheeks. I dug myself into my bed, letting the comforter eat em up. I knew any second now he'd come up and pull me out of this bed.

"Dpn't say that about our own daughter Greg." My mom hissed.

"My daughter? Ha, my daughter would be living a happy life. Would be at work, at school. That? She's a mistake. An ungrateful whore."

"Gregory!"

"She took after someone and it's not me..." he laughed.

I wanted to jump out of bed and slit his fucking throat. But I couldn't. I couldn't get myself to leave my bed. My body felt attached to the mattress.

"Get out of my house! Now!" my mother demanded, her Polish accent was obvious now.

"Your house? I find that hilarious."

"Go to your fucking whore! Go back to your new family and leave mine alone before I call the police. The audacity you have to talk about your own children that way makes me want to vomit." she yelled, finally standing up for herself.

My mother always cowered away from my dad, afraid to take the wrong step. But today, something clicked. And to say the least, I was proud. It was always me protecting her, now it's the other way around.

"Gregory, leave."

A door slammed and my heart stopped racing.

Maybe I was a whore because I've never known what love really was. And I wanted to steal it from everyone else who had it.

Jessie

With the wedding coming up, I couldn't be anything but dramatic and over-emotional.

Example: I still felt the need to call Isabelle and completely go off on her for getting together with the father of her godchild.

I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be any better than her. But I just wanted to say something. I just wanted to clear the air. I wanted to know why she would get with the Philip.

Isaac was probably passed out in his crib (I'd left him with Cole not too long ago) by now, and I was glad. I hoped he didn't wake up when Adrian got here.

My father volunteered to pay for our wedding. That was my wedding gift from him. But for some reason, Adrian isn't letting him. And I really wanted to know why.

So, when he came into the room, his brown eyes roaming over me as I skimmed through a book I'd gotten from the library the other day, I wanted to immediately fire my questions at him.

But he looked tired. He pulled his shirt over his head and kicked his jeans off, and suddenly it was really hard to be mad at him. I looked away. Stay focused, Jessie.

"Cole told me about the budget thing," I spoke up finally. He turned around as I continued with, "I thought my dad was going to help."

He stared at me, his lips parted slightly. I hadn't felt his touch in hours, and just looking at him made me feel desperate for his lips. But I had to confront the problems here. "Put something on, you're distracting," offering a slight smile to seem less bitter.

Adrian pulled one on then slid in next to me, saying, "Your Dad offered to pay for the whole wedding, actually."

I put my book down, not bothering to mark where I was, "Then why not let him?"

"I am going to be your husband," He answered, and he looked satisfied as the words slid from his lips. Like he was lucky to be able to day that. "You are going to be my wife, Isaac is my son. It is my job as a man to provide for you. I appreciate your father's help, if there ever was a time where for whatever reason, I couldn't provide for you and Isaac, I would gladly swallow my pride and ask for his help. However, I've been working in the best restaurants in the world since I was 10 years old, I'm 19 now. I made a 30 thousand a year salary at 10 years old and that salary just continued to go up. I saved every penny. I have more than enough to provide."

For the first time since Adrian and i had met, I was actually upset with him. I had to strain to keep my voice low as I interjected with, "I understand you have enough, but I'm not working. I have a baby. I can't let you pay for everything."

His voice raised slightly as he argued with, "Well, that's going to change. I wanted to talk to you about you potentially getting a part time job and going to some evening classes at the community college."

Excuse me?

"What?" I could not believe he'd just said that. "I have a child, I can't-"

"You need to, Jessie. You are capable of so much more than being a stay at home Mom, nothing against women that stay at home to be with their children, that's very admirable. But you need adventure, you need a career."

Did he not think that I WANTED to do more? I'm limited. Why does he not understand that?

I didn't realize until now that we were yelling at each other. Anger continued to surge through my veins, "I need to be with my son! Maybe when he's older, Adrian, but you can't just-"

He cut me off, his voice stern and so loud it made me flinch, "We cannot ask your father for money. School can wait for now, but you at least need to get a part time job. I just want you to get a shift somewhere for 4-5 hours a day, that's it. Colette is a capable babysitter-"

I wanted to pull my hair out. "I will not raise my son on nannies the way I was raised! He will not be a child with hired help for parents. That's how I was brought up, that's not how I will bring up my son. As wonderful as Colette is, she is not his mother. I am his mother."

Isaac's screaming suddenly cut in, and the sound automatically made me feel guilty. We woke him up with our arguing.

"Oh great," Adrian sighed, as if it were my fault. He left , but returned seconds later with my teary-eyed angel.

"Did mommy and daddy wake you up, baby?" I cooed, stepping forward to caress Isaac's cheek. Adrian's brown eyes were calm, but I knew he wanted to continue this later. I couldn't wait. I was going to get my point across.

Adrian crawled into the bed, Isaac cradled to his chest, and I slid in next to him.

Isaac cooed and pulled gently at Adrian's nose, and for now I was content with how the argument came to a stop.

We laid in bed for awhile, me gazing at my fiance and child as Adrian quietly hummed a lullaby to our dozing son.

Once he passed out completely, Adrian settled him in the crib that we kept in our room then came and laid back down next to me.

"I'm sorry, babe," he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine, "I just want the best for you. I don't want your potential to go down the drain."

I nod and filter my fingers through his messy hair, "I'll see about getting a part-time at Starbucks for now. But I don't want Isaac to grow up with his parents always working, okay? I don't want him to grow up like we did."

He nodded, too, his eyes drooping shut. I pressed my lips to his softly, inhaling the familiar scents of sautéed onions and several types of spices.

"I love you," he mumbled once I pulled away.

I smiled, curling against his body as I whispered, "I love you, too."

************

When I woke up, Adrian was tangled around me. Isaac was on his side, his eyes open-- he was just chilling, looking around at his surrounds. I grinned. He was getting so big.

"Hi baby boy," I whisper, crawling out of bed and creeping over to his crib.

His piercing eyes flicked over to me, and a beautiful smile spread across his lips.

I ducked out of his visions suddenly, then popped back up seconds later. He erupted in laughter, his hands pushing his body up a bit.

"Was that funny baby?" I laugh, unable to help myself. His happiness was contagious.

I duck down again, and he was still giggling. When I popped back up, he fell back on his side, his tiny voice laughing crazily. I laughed along with him, then lifted him from his crib.

He giggled as I crawled onto the bed, and continued laughing as I laid him onto of a sleeping Adrian. I sat on my knees, next to Adrian, as Isaac drooled and slightly moved around on top of his dad.

After a couple of minutes, Adrian groaned but used his hands to hold onto Isaac so he wouldn't fall.

"Morning, Mr. Beaumont," I grinned at him, then laid across his legs. "What fun activities do you have for us today?"

"Well, Future Mrs. Beaumont," his voice clearly proved that he was still half asleep, but the sound of him saying this made me feel good. I don't know why, it just did. "When's your next fitting?"

"Technically it's not a fitting," I say, "but it's tomorrow. I don't think we have anything planned for today, aside from Isaac's monthly checkup at Dr. Randolh's office."

"And that's at 10:30, right?" He asked, though he knew it was. Adrian was better with the dates than I was.

I nod, though. "So we have a free day. I think we should do something for Cole, since she's already done so much for us."

Adrian seemed to think about this, his top lip rubbing against his bottom one. I loved the small things about him. After a moment, he said, "Yeah, i think we should. What though?"

I shrug at that, closing my eyes as he adjusts his legs underneath me.

If I could, I would just sleep all day. Alas, being an adult means getting up and getting things done. So, I sat up, beaming from ear to ear as I say, "Let's go see what she wants to do."

James

"Daf... Isabelle is pregnant and I think she is miscarrying!" I was in a panic as I sat at the hospital waiting room while Isabelle got checked out. She called me in a panic almost an hour ago and I immediately rushed to her side.

"Wait what????" Dafnies voice sounded panicky.

"Do not tell Philip. Isabelle didn't want him to know. I needed to talk to someone and I just don't know what to do. I am worried about her."

For the life of me I had no clue why I would talk to her of all people. She knew Philip well so if anyone could tell me something good then I just needed to get it out.

"Are you with Ms. Lee?" The nurse came in the waiting room.

"Look I gotta go okay but keep quite." Before she got a word in I hung up on her and walked with the nurse.

"She is stabilized for now. She was losing a lot of blood but we stopped the bleeding. The babys heart rate is 67 but it will hopefully change now that she is resting."

The nurse was as calm as ever and I couldn't believe everything went so well. In the back of my mind I kinda thought we were gonna hear some bad news but she is stable and the baby is still alive.

I really hope Dafnie knows how to be quite. I shouldnt have told her.

The room was cool and I saw Isabelle sleeping when I walked to her room. She looked so peaceful. I heard two loud dings and noticed her phone went off.

I hope you are okay. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you when you needed me. I still love you Isabelle. The last sentence made my heart ache. It was Paul.

I put her phone down and sat on the couch two feet from the bed, I will sit here until she wakes up.


@Nike I hope this was okay. Also I don't guess it will be too bad of an idea if Philip finds out. Hmm where to go from here!!

~Hawthorne~

With nothing to do at the house, I decided a visit to the grocery store was in order, though I didn't need anything for the house. Being there alone only served to bring up old memories that are best left forgotten. Pulling into a parking spot, I stepped out and closed the door. The feeling of the sun as it beat down on my skin, momentarily blinding my eyes and causing me to wince. Already I felt sweat bead and sliding down my cheek, my pores opening to allow the toxins in my body passage out. Turning away from the ever bright beams of the sun, I hit the lock key on my fob, listening to the chirp of the car as it armed itself.

The doors leading into store parted soundlessly as I entered, the cool air grazing my skin, soothing it from the harsh treatment of the sun. Wiping the sweat from my face, I grabbed a basket, not sure what I was getting but wanting to be prepared, and made my way down the first aisle I saw. Nothing stuck out as I slowly made my way through, running a hand through my hair haphazardly and sighing, keys still in hand.

What to get, what to get.....

"Hawthorne?"

Lifting my head, I saw Rupert coming my way with a smile painted on his face.

"Hey Rupert," I smiled as he pulled me in for a hug, lifting my body off the ground and spinning in a circle, eliciting a squeal from me

"It's good to see you're still alive." he said as he set me back down. "It's been a while."

"It has." I agree. "What have you been up to?"

"Not much of anything really. Cole is really busy planning Jesse's wedding, so we haven't had much time together." He ran a hand through his thick midnight black hair with a sigh.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I touched his shoulder. "I offered to help with Isaac and the wedding, but I haven't heard back from Jesse."

"Really?" Rupert frowned. "That's odd. I'll let Cole know when I see her again. She's been swamped with planning the wedding and could use some help."

"That would be great." I pull out my phone and check the time. "What are you doing here?"

Rupert's happy disposition changed so quick I had to do a double take, the smile on his face falling, his lips setting into a strained line. "I'm doing an errand for my mother."

Yikes. The way he said mother would make you think he despised the woman.

"I'm happy to help you. I've got nothing better to do." I put my hands behind my back, rocking back and forth on the heels of my feet. "I didn't really have anything in mind when I came to the store. I just wanted to get out of the house for a little bit.

"That would make this so much more bearable." Rupert sighed in relief.

"Then I am at your disposal," I gave a deep bow and he laughed.

"Right this way then, Jeeves." He turned back the way he came from.

I kicked him in the butt as he turned. "I'm not your butler, ass hat."

"You didn't have to kick me in the ass to tell me that." he rubbed the sore area in question. "Damn you kick hard."

"Better remember that." I smiled sweetly. "It would be such a tragedy if it were to happen again."

"You're evil I tell you." he stabbed his finger at me. "Evil!"

I smiled innocently as he walked away, following behind him. For the first time in a while, my mood seemed to have improved. It probably had to do with running into Rupert. With Abraham's condition becoming as bad as it is, Agatha off doing who knows what, leaving me to take care of him, and make all of the decision regarding his health, it didn't leave much time for anything else.

"So what's on the menu?" I stick my hands in my back pocket.

"There's going to be a party at my house in a few days, so the usual party crap." he answered with a shrug. "Cups, Plates, dumb ass finger foods that no one will eat."

"The usual crap." I nodded.

"The usual crap." he echoed.

"Alright then." I smiled at him. "Let's get to it!"

***************

After gallivanting around in the store and being watched by the workers, we finally settled down enough to get everything he needed for the party. With a basket full of crap, we headed to the check out line, which had to be at least a mile long.

"Well this is f*cking great." He pulled his phone out to check the time.

"Got a hot date?" I snatched his phone from him.

He was quicker than I realized as he snatched his phone back. "Nice try."

I made a pouty face, but he just laugh and ruffled my hair, so I kicked him in his butt again and smiled. He called me a demon, so I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed like a villain.

"So what have you been up since we last talked?" Rupert stuck his hands in pockets as he settled in for the wait in the line.

"Mostly taking care of Abraham," lifting my arms above my head, I stretched towards the ceiling. "my Grandfather. Agatha seems to have disappeared."

"Isn't that...." he looked at me, not sure if he should finish his sentence.

"A good thing?" I finished for him.

He nodded.

"When you're holding the life of a dying person in your hands because his wife is nowhere to be found, not really." I shake my head. "Since she's not here, that leaves me alone to take care of him and make all of the decisions regarding his health."

"Well shit." Rupert rubbed the back of his head. "That's so heavy stuff."

"On top of that, Abraham's lawyer is pushing to have power of attorney transferred to me since I have to make the decisions anyway." I sigh tiredly.

"Can he do that without her present?" Rupert eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I guess in a case of emergency." it was my turn to shrug. "It's not like Agatha's around to stop him. He never really liked her anyway."

"I can't really blame the guy." Rupert shook his head.

"Anyone who knew Agatha would blame him." I nodded.

Anyone who knew the real Agatha knew she was someone you didn't want to get in the way of or cross. If anyone knew the real Agatha, they knew that she was a monster. The people who associated with her were either just like her, or too afraid of what would happen if they stopped associating with her.

"And you've been going through all of this by yourself." he looked at me as if he felt guilty.

Acting like I didn't notice, I shrugged. "You guys have your own stuff to deal with, and it's like I haven't already had to deal with everything on my own anyways."

And that was the truth. I've had to deal with Agatha since my father killed himself. Even before he died, he'd inflict pain on me every chance he got. Physical. Emotional. Mental. It was the same with Agatha. My father had been angry, and she'd been vicious. They were certainly Mother and Son. Their blood ran through my veins. That anger and viciousness. The abysmal darkness.

"But you shouldn't have to." he frowned. "It's not fair to you."

"Not everything in life is fair, Rupert." I reminded him.

Before he could speak, I changed the subject. "You've got a lot of groceries here. Are you going to need help getting them home?"

The look on his face told me he wasn't finished with what he had to say, but he knew I was, so he dropped the subject and answered my question. "That sounds good. I could use the company anyway."

****************

After getting checked out, I help Rupert load everything into his car, and followed him to his house. Parking behind him on the curb, I stepped out of the car and made my way over to him.

"Word to the wise," he says as I walk over to him. "My mother is a piece of work. Take everything she says with a grain of salt."

"Yes sir." I saluted with a smile. "Message received."

"Let's get this shit in her and get it over with so I don't have to be here." he grimaced.

With that, we started unloading everything and made our way to the front door, which was already unlocked. I followed him into the kitchen, setting everything down on the table. After two more trips, we had everything unloaded.

"Thanks for helping with everything." Rupert pulled me in for a hug before I could say anything. "Now let's get the hell out of here before-"

"This must be your latest play thing, I assume?" came a distinctly female voice from behind me.

Turning around, I saw a tall woman with straight shoulder length midnight black hair and blue eyes like Rupert. In appearance she may have looked young, but the wrinkles beneath her heavy makeup told a different story. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and matching six inch heels with a tight royal blue top, a Bluetooth headset and shades completing her business attire. Pushing her shades down to the edge of her nose, she looked me over.

"This is my friend, Hawthorne." Rupert replied through gritted teeth.

"Hm." the look on her face said she wouldn't have cared either way.

"Hi," I smiled fakely at her.

"I see you get the stuff for the party." she clapped her hands together and smiled as if I'd never said anything.

"Yes, mother." I turned to see Rupert pouring himself a glass of water. "You're welcome, but you seemed to not have heard my friend when she said hi to you."

Her face fell. "Why would I say anything to someone you're just screwing for the time being? First it was that frightful Cole girl and now it's her. I don't see the point in talking to someone whose name I won't remember when I leave the room. That's one of the perks for having a man whore for a son."

Rupert slammed the glass down on the counter so hard I thought it was going to break, but it didn't.

"I don't care what you say about me mother," he clenched his fists at his side. "but don't you dare talk about Thorne that way!"

"Rupert, it's ok." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Thorne-"

"No Rupert." I stop him. "It's really ok. She's nothing compared to Agatha."

"Excuse me?" Rupert's mother said incredulously.

I smirked at her. "The one thing Agatha had going for her was that she wasn't a gold digger like you seem to be."

Rupert must have taken a drink of his water, because I heard him spit out everywhere behind me.

"The stuff he had to get for the party was for you, and the party is yours, but I bet you're going to sit back and let someone else do all the work and then take the credit. It's a wonder Rupert came out amazing as he did with a mother like you." I threw my hair over one shoulder.

The utter outrage on her face was priceless as I turned, grabbed Rupert's hand, and walked out the door.

***********

After that our little run in with Rupert's mom, I invited Rupert back to my house. He needed a chance to calm down, and I didn't want to be home by myself. Rupert hadn't said a word since he set foot inside the door. I was beginning to wonder if he was mad at me.

"Rupert?" I touched his shoulder.

We were sitting in the living room on the couch in silence, and it was driving me crazy.
He looked at me, but said nothing.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, worrying my lower lip as I waited for his answer.

He looked at me for a long moment before a smiling, and then pulled me in for a hug I thought would crush my spine.

"You were awesome!" he smiled wide. "You just put her on blast and then walked out like it was nothing."

He laughed as if he hadn't had the chance to laugh before, and it was nice. I hadn't had much of any kind of contact with anyone for the last little while, and with all of the stress I was under, it was starting to get to me. I couldn't have run into Rupert at a better time.

"So what do you wanna do?" I laid down, propping my feet in his lap.

"What can we do?" Rupert looked up at the ceiling.

"I have a Saltwater pool that's never used." I suggested.

"Hell to the yes!!" Rupert jumped up.

Standing up, I motioned for him to follow me. Moving through the hallway and then the kitchen, we went through the back door towards the pool. Rupert was already taking his clothes off.

"Slow down boy." I laughed. "There's a shed right over there, and it has a variety of swimming trunks in different sizes you can choose from."

He stopped midway through taking his shirt off."Really? Awesome!"

He tried running over there with his shirt half off and tripped over the hose he didn't see. Shaking my head with a laugh, I went back into the house and up to my room to change. I heard a splash signaling Rupert's entry into pool as I pulled on a swimsuit and looked myself in the mirror. I'd decided on a one piece swimsuit, with a tropical look to it, adorned with bright pink, yellow, purple, and white flowers. With he sides cut out and the low dipping back, the ties were located around the back of my neck and between my shoulder blades to help accentuate my hour glass figure. Wrapping a towel around myself and grabbing one for Rupert I headed back down after checking to make sure the front door was locked. As I made it outside I wondered if it was a mistake to wear this one as I saw Rupert treading the water with a back stroke. Was this swim suit too revealing?

As I stood there pondering my choice, Rupert must have caught sight of me and stopped swimming."Hey! You coming in or what?"

When I didn't answer, he swam to the edge of the pool, shaking the water from his hair and slicking it back. "Something wrong?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my towel and bit my lower lip. Rupert sighed, pulling himself over the edge and out of the pool before standing up. He walked over to me, pulled the off of me, picked me up, and threw me into the pool so fast I couldn't even scream. At least not until I realized how cold the water actually was.

"Rupert you asshole!" I yelled. "This water is cold!!"

He laughed as he jumped back into the water. "You were taking too long."

I slapped him in the face with splash of water. He splashed me back.

"You're messing with the wrong guy." he smiled devilishly.

"Oh," I put my hand to my forehead. "I'm quaking in my tube socks."

I should have been paying attention. Rupert had dived down under the water and pulled my feet from under me. We horsed around for a little while longer before settling in. Rupert was floating around somewhere while I was at the bottom step of the pool, resting my head on the one above it with my eyes closed as floated there. I felt weightless and free. Not a care in the world as I let refreshing and invigorating water wash way my problems momentarily. A disturbance in the water beside me said that Rupert was near me, probably settling down next to me.

"It's so nice to be able to relax and forget about the world." I sighed.

"I'm right there with ya." Rupert agreed.

The sound of his voice was muffled by the water, but by the sound of it, he was sitting up on one of the stairs. Slicking my hair back from my head, I pulled myself into a sitting position beside him. We sat in silence for who knows how long, just enjoy the cool water lapping at our legs. I bent forward, wrapping my arms with a small sigh, beginning to rock from side to side.

"Hey." Rupert nudge me with his elbow.

"Hm?" I looked at him.

"You know you're not alone, right?" he ran a hand through his damp hair as he looked down at me. "I'll always fight for you."

I sat up, leaning over to give him a hug. Then I gave him a peck on his smooth cheek and smiled. "Thank you for that."

"Anytime." Rupert winked.

I rolled my eyes. "Dork."

"You wound me." he gripped his chest like i'd shot him.

I pushed Rupert back into the water with a laugh. As I stood, a shadow caught the corner of my eye. Turning towards the door back into the house, I peered in. Was there someone in the house?

"Hello?" came a male voice from in the house.

Just after that, the shadow stepped into the light. It was a boy. No more than an inch or so taller than me. Lightly tanned skin with no blemishes and high cheekbones that made his flat black eye even more daunting than they may have already been. Every hair on my body stood on end.

"Oh hi there." he waved. "I'm Damien. I just moved in next door and came to introduce myself. I knocked but no one answered, and the door was unlocked."

I extended my hand out to his and shook it, a chill settling into my bones as he smiled at me. Something about it seemed cruel.

I took a small step back as I pulled my hand out of his and plastered a smile on my face. "I'm Hawthorne. It's nice to meet you and welcome to the neighborhood."

"Thanks." he smiled, looking me over. "I have a feeling i'll like it here."

I smiled again, but said nothing as Rupert came to stand beside me.

"What's going on?" he looked at me.

"Hi," Damien extended his hand out. "I'm Damien. I didn't mean to interrupt quality time with your girlfriend. I just came over to introduce myself since I just moved in next door."

Rupert shook his hand, but he didn't smile back. "She's not my girlfriend, but it's nice to meet you too."

"Oh." he looked over in my direction, making me want to shrink behind Rupert. "So you're just friends?"

"He's dating one of my friends." I clarified. "We're just hanging out."

He looked me over again, making want to cover myself from head to toe. "That's cool."

"It's a nice day out for a swim." Rupert smiled.

"It certainly is." Damien agreed. "Nice trunks."

"Thorne gave me a pair." he smiled."Awesome right?"

"Yea," he nodded, his gaze shifting back my way. "Killer swimsuit by the way."

Picking my towel up off the ground, I Wrapped it around myself. "Thanks."

He looked at me for a moment longer than necessary before saying. "Well, I don't want to get in the way of your fun, so i'll head on home. Just wanted to say hi."

With that he turned toward the towards the side of the house and pointed. I nodded, and he took his leave that way. Walking back into the house with Rupert right behind me, I went straight to the front door. It was unlocked and slightly ajar, which it shouldn't have been.

"What's going on?" Rupert frowned. "How did he get into your house?"

"He lied and said the front door was unlocked." I locked the door again, this time looking through the end table drawer.

"What are you looking for?" he looked out the window, waving at who I would guess was Damien walking by.

"The code for the Security system." I answered. "It's in here somewhere. Agatha always set the alarm to the house, so I never never knew what it was. I've just been locking the doors since she's been gone because she never told me what it was."

"Why start using it now?" He pulled his phone out and shone his light in the drawer for me to see better."

"Because he lied about how he got into the house." I found a piece of paper with Agatha's elegant script on it. "I locked the door and triple checked it after you came inside, and then triple checked it again when I came down after changing to my bathing suit to make sure it was still locked. the only way he could have gotten in was if he'd picked the lock."

"System armed." came a voice from the security pad by the door.

Walking to the door, I opened it.

"Front door opened. Please enter pass code."

I let it swing closed and entered the pass code.

"System disarmed."

I opened the door.

"Front door opened."

"Will you do me a favor Rupert?" I look at him. "Go to the backdoor and open it for me."

With out a word, he turned and went to the back door. A few moments later,

"Backdoor opened."

I rearmed the system. "Open it one more time."

"Back door opened. Please enter pass code."

I entered the pass code.

"System alarmed."

So the code can be used for the front and back door. I walked back to where Rupert was and saw another security pad by the door.

"Pick a window in the front room and open it." I tell him.

Without a word, he went into the living room.

"Living room window opened. Please enter Pass code."

I entered the pass code.

"System disarmed."

I entered the code again to rearm the system and went into the living where Rupert was.

"So," I begin. "If the alarm can used at the front door to disarm and arm the back, and vice versa. And if one window is able to set off the alarm,-"

"Then all of the windows should set off the alarm." Rupert finished.

"Alright then." I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "Are you hungry."

Rupert rubbed his flat stomach. "A growing boy's gotta eat."

"Let's see what we can find, because i'm starved right now." I turned, heading for the kitchen.

"Hell to the yes!!" Rupert just about ran me over trying to get there before me.

We were able to find the ingredients to make tacos, so we made tacos and had a taco eating contest. I won.

"Loser." I poked him in his face as he wolfed down his last taco.

"That was a fluke." he shrugged. "I wasn't expecting you to be a human vacuum."

"Don't hate the playa honey." I brushed my shoulders off. "Hate the game."

"Now who's he dork?" Rupert cocked an eyebrow as he laughed.

"Still you." I grabbed my plate and brought it to the sink to wash it.

Rupert came over with his plate and the other dirty dishes. I washed. He rinsed and set them aside to dry. After that, we got out of our swim suits and back into our regular clothes. Rupert check them time and said he had to go.

"School will be starting back in a little bit, and I need to keep mt game strong." Rupert popped his collar as I rolled my eyes.

"Mhm. Just don't forget i'm the taco champ." I popped my collar.

"A mistake that will be righted." He promised. "The Gods deem it so."

"Whatever sore loser." Shaking my head, I laughed as I disarmed the system and opened the door for him. "I'm so glad you spotted me in the store. I had fun today."

"Anytime." Rupert pulled me in for a tight hug. "I had a blast today. We need to do it again."

"And we should." I nodded in agreement.

"You sure you'll be ok here by yourself?" he looked down at me.

"I'll be fine." I assured him. "I'll have the alarm armed, so I should be fine."

"Alright." Ruert sighed. "But call me if you have any problems, ok?"

I leaned up and kissed him on his cheek before separating myself from him. "Pinky promise. See you later."

Rupert gave a salute worthy of a captain, turned, and made his way to his car. As the door closed behind me, entered the pass code.

"System armed."

Colette

"Colette?" I heard Jessie's voice, vaguely.

"mgrmph." I mumbled, rolling over on the pull out bed.

"Cole." Adrian. "Are you awake?"

"No." I said, pulling up the covers. "I am not awake."

"Jess, you wanted to do something for Cole today, we should probably just let her sleep."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

I sat up slowly, they stared at me concerned. "I'm trying to sleep."

Jessie burst out laughing then and I glared at her. "What could possibly be so funny?"

"You have a pretty nasty case of bedhead," she said, and then Adrian was chuckling too with Isaac in his arms. Isaac let out a giggle and waved his arms wildly.

"If you want to do something nice for me, just let me have the apartment to myself. I might invite Rupert over or something..."

"Ew, Cole, really?" Jessie deadpanned but that laughed.

"Well?"

Adrian rolled his eyes, "Okay, shall we go swimming?" he looked over at Jessie and she nodded enthusiastically.

They'd spent an hour assembling swimsuits, waterproof diapers, floaties, diaper and pool bags before leaving and I wandered into the bathroom.

I brushed out my hair, wincing as the bristles yanked on my blonde tangles. Yup, I definitely had awful bedhead.

My makeup brushes were put to use afterwards, brushing on paints and powders to make my eyes look darker and more mysterius, my lips more red and my complexion more pure.

My slippers slid along the hardwood floor of the apartment as I headed back out to the pull out, neatly making it up before peeling off my sleep shorts and tank top. I dug through the array of clothes that I kept in the otherwise unused drawers of the TV stand, trying to find the best bra and panty set possible.

I struck gold, finding a lacy black set that I had forgotten entirely about before slowly putting it on, reaching behind me to clasp it. That's when the nerves ran through me, I started to shake a little, sitting down. I was suddenly aware of the scratchy lace against my skin.

I took a deep breath, I could do this. Rupert would go slow with me, I knew it. He was sweet and gentle, I needed to try.

I took out my phone and tapped the camera app, pointing the camera at me. The daylight filtering through the windows gave me a slight glow and I gave my best pout, tugging suggestively at my bra strap with my thumb as I snapped a few photos.

I sank back in the bed, taking a few more, trying to get the best angle.

I picked out a few of my favorites, after scrolling through all of them, and then added them to a text message. I then scrolled through my contacts, picking out Rupert's name and hurriedly hitting send, before I lost my nerve.

I set the phone down next to me, not daring to look.

My phone vibrated a few times and I squinted my eyes shut, instantly regretting it. I unlocked my phone and saw a text from Philip. I decided to ignore it, tapping on the notification from Rupert.

You're beautiful, love, just don't do anything you aren't ready for.

The message made me smile, relief flooding through my body. I instantly knew it was the right decision, we could take this slowly.

My phone vibrated several more times after that, all the messages from Phil.

My heart sank as I opened the message.

While scrolling through the contacts, looking for Rupert's name I had inadvertantly sent pictures of myself half naked.

???

Colette?

Rupert is my best friend, what are you doing?

Answer me!!!!

I instantly wanted to be sick.

Dafnie Serena Leto

"James! What the fuck!" I hissed into the phone.

He had hung up and me and my heart was racing a mile a minute. My phone was blank, as was my mind. I couldn't think about anything else.

Isabelle wasn't my friend. I wish I could consider her my friend but we all know that that's not going to happen. With everything that we've been through, I'm lucky she acknowledges my existence.

But. She was pregnant?

With Philip?

He did it again. God damn. Now he's going to have two babies before the ripe age of eighteen. How smart.

I quickly scrolled through my contacts and tapped Philips name. Before calling, I hesitated. Did he know? And if he didn't, was I the right person to tell him? I mean, he should know... it's just that it probably shouldn't be coming from me.

And just as if faith was playing in my field, my screen showed that Philip was calling me.

Guess I had to tell him.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Aye Daffy, I wanted to see if we were okay... after what had happened. It was a mistake, I agree and I'm sorry." His voice sounded raw.

"Philip... We are fine. Uhm, I have something to tell you."

I got comfortable on my bed and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. It felt like I was telling him I was pregnant. Oh thank god I wasn't.

"Everything okay?"

"Agh, it really shouldn't be coming from me but I'm sure she needs you to be there." I paused and heard him take a breath.

"Wh-what's going on?" He cut me off.

"Phil, Isabelle is pregnant."

There was a pause. The tension grew thick and I didn't know what to do or what to say. I just waited for him to process everything. God, if I were to hear that I got another girl pregnant, I don't know what I'd do. Probably stop having sex for a while, that's for sure.

"That's why James texted me." He finally spoke up.

"What?" I asked.

"He asked me how I'd feel if I got another girl pregnant. This all makes sense now. Oh my God." He paused. "Dafnie what the fuck. I have two babies. What the actual fuck."

"Maybe not." I cut him off before he could freak out.

"What do you mean? Is she okay?"

"She's having a miscarriage."

"Damn dude. Fucking throw it all down on me won't ya? Where is she?" I could hear him get frantic by how quickly he was speaking.

I took another deep breath. I didn't know where she was, James wasn't helpful enough to give me this information. It definitely would have been useful right about now.

"You don't know do you?" He asked, his voice got higher.

"James just called me super frantic, I barely got anything out of him. All he told me is that she's having a miscarriage!" I replied, gripping the phone in fright.

"I'll find her." And he hung up.

I looked at my screen as a picture of his face blinked to black. It was when we were snapchatting each other one night and he decided it was time for silly faces. So naturally, I screenshotted it and put it as his contact picture. He had his tongue out and eyes crossed. Very attractive.

My heart was still racing and it was hard for my brain to accept that this was actually happening. One second I'm feeling sorry for myself than the next all I could think about was a girl that I barely knew.

She may be having a baby. Or she may be losing it.

And my friend needs support.

I got off my bed and grabbed my keys from my bedside table. The apartment was dark, so I tried to veer my way through to the front door.

I texted Philip that I'd pick him up and we'd go see her.

He needs me.

Sebastian

I was a hard worker. Everyone knew that. I also had a full life. I kept my grades up. I had a job. A legal job, working for my father. I was captain of the lacrosse team. I even had my own place, paid my own bills. I had some good friends. But still, it always felt like something was missing.

I put down the weights I was lifting, taking a glance around the weight room. I was the only one in it at the moment. It looked like everyone else had gone home already. Taking a swig of water, I put the weights away, as I checked my phone.

Hey Bash, we took the kid to another house. Your dad doesn't want him at your place. We'll send you the details for his brother."

Daniel had only been with me a few days, but I understood why they had moved him. I forwarded the message to Riley, and he sent me a thank you in response. I closed my phone, placing it in my gym bag before grabbing it and heading back to my house, the random thought that my life wasn't complete nagging at the edge of my brain.

I drove my car home, my mind caught on something more than myself. My thoughts drifted back to the interviews with the scouts from the big colleges I had had a few days earlier. For some odd reason, it seemed all a blur. I had what they wanted, the great grades, the undefeatable athlete.

I cleared my head as I pulled into the garage, and entered my home. It was surprisingly empty now. I had gotten used to Daniel always being there, sometimes greeting me at the door. I threw my bag down headed upstairs to take a shower before work at the club again. Which also brought my mind to Jules. Not very often I ran into one of my classmates at a nightclub my father owned. Since they were 21 ad up, and also happened to be the most expensive. Made me wonder how she pulled it off.

I turned off the shower before dressing into a casual suit before grabbing my favorite cologne, Versace. I'll admit it, I was a bit of a fashionista. But the clothes must match the man, and I always enjoyed looking good. With one last wink at myself, I headed down to my car.

On my way to work, I decided to take the scenic route, just to enjoy the night a little while longer. I pulled up to a red light and checked my phone before hitting the gas at the green. I hid a smile as I sped past a guy, who in trying to impress his girlfriend by attempting to race me, got a flat tire. I laughed out loud.

I pulled into the back of the the club with a wide grin. My smile slowly disappeared as I got further and further into the club, finding my usual seat, as the usual sluts paraded themselves around hoping to catch my attention. But I couldn't see Jules. Was I disappointed? Yes I was. And I was a bit amazed by that.

My thoughts were interrupted as my phone buzzed and I got a text from one of the bouncers.

Hey boss. We got some girl being manhandled down the street a bit, but close enough to cause some trouble. Want me to take care of it?"

I shot him a quick reply.

"No I'll handle it. Thanks Dimitri."

I closed my phone and got up. Perhaps I'd beable to put those years of boxing to good use finally. I stepped out into the street. My eyes caught them, shoving the girl in the black dress against the wall. The problem is, I recognized the dress and the girl in it. Rage and adrenaline filled my veins as I moved fast towards them. She was drunk. They weren't.

Dimitri must have seen me go after those guys with rage in my eyes, because he was a step behind me. And before I could get my hands on them, he had them off of her, and his boot in their asses as he kicked them away from me. My eyes snapped to Jules who looked at me groggily.

"Why ya gotta be such a cock-block Trapani." She mumbled. Dimitri glanced at me and in one swoop, the giant Russian lifted her up over his shoulders, and carried her to the back of the club. My worried ass a step behind him.

My question was o lay to myself. Why did I care so much?? She wasn't resisting them. Sure she was intoxicated, but she wanted them. So why did I intervene? Was I Sebastian Antonio Trapani in love?? No, I wasn't. But I cared for her.

She was mumbling incoherently now, as Dimitri gently sat her down in the backseat of my car, atop the jacket I had laid down. She snuggled up to it, sniffing deeply, mumbling." You smell good baby." Dimitri gave me a look of exasperation. I shrugged." The chicks dig the Versace man." I said in my defense.

I got in my car as Jules gently fell asleep in my backseat. I had no idea where she lived, so the only plausible thing was to take her to my place. After all, if she did show up at her host parents house wasted out of her mind, she could possibly be sent home. And I'm not sure that's what I wanted.

At my home, I gently picked her up, carrying her too my room, where I got her out of her clothes, avoiding fondling her more than I had too. I put on her some old sweats of mine and a t-shirt. After affirming she was comfortable and asleep, I grabbed some blankets from my emergency blanket closet (a man can never have to many blankets) and made my bed on the couch, before soundly falling asleep.


The next morning, I woke up groggily, checking my phone. Only nine in the morning. I say up, yawning loudly, curious that I was on the couch. Than it all came back to me. I had a girl upstairs. That I hadn't slept with. Because I genuinely cared about her. Grumbling to myself, I grabbed a fresh pair of sweats from my drawer as Jules slept contentedly on my bad. Snuggling up to my stuffed giraffe. The bitch.

I smiled as I walked out of the room, silently closing the door behind me. I approached the shower, rubbing my hand over the five o'clock shadow that had crept sneakily over my face. Shrugging it away, I decided to let it live for a little bit longer, before exterminating its heroic effort to at last turn into a beard.

Poor little guy, I thought, as I stepped under the hot water, letting it wash away the sleepiness of the night, and relax the muscles.

Soon I found myself with a grumbling stomach, and a skillet with cooking eggs and bacon, and a toaster that still had two. Goddamn. Minutes left. I turned when I heard the shuffling of feet, to face the girl I had technically kidnapped. And I also noticed I had forgotten to put on my shirt, which was conveniently thrown across the back of the couch. Now I'm going to look like I did something bad, i thought too myself, as Jules opened her mouth to speak.

Jules

"Bash frickin' Trapani."

"In the flesh," he said, grinning. Which, of course, only drew more attention to the fact that he was shirtless. I tried to just look at his face, really I did.

"You undressed me," I said flatly.

"You weren't wearing that much to begin with!" he said cheerfully, taking eggs out of the pan. My tummy rumbled then, very loudly.

"Sit down, we need to have a talk. And you need food. How is your head not killing you? You were roaring drunk last night," he said, putting together plates and glasses of orange juice.

"I don't remember," I said weakly, sitting down. "Bash, I don't remember."

"Lots of people don't remember what they do when they're completely wasted," he shrugged, sitting down, "it's okay. You're safe, now."

"Sebastian. I'm from Europe. I have been having 1 to 2 glasses of wine with dinner every night since I was 12 years old. And not the cute nappa wine Americans seem to take such pride in. I mean expensive, Italian imported wine. Stuff that's been aging for over a 100 years. $1,000 bottles of wine, very strong. I also don't let myself get anything other than tipsy. It's irresponsible."

he pondered this for a moment. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying somebody must have put something in my drink. I can't remember anything, I'm not showing symptoms of a hangover. If anything, I'm just really dizzy and feel kinda nauseated."

"So... instead of two guys trying to take advantage of a drunk girl. They-"

"-tried to drug me and rape me," I interrupted, "Yes."

he sat there for another moment, all the previous bravado gone.

"That happened in my club," he said, and then I noticed his fists were clenched and shaking.

"That's what it looks like. I can pee in a cup if you really want to make sure." I was shaken and my stomach rolled. I was trying to disguise my fear with jokes and lightheartedness, but inwardly, I was terrified. They would've taken me home and... and...

"I need to make some phone calls," he said suddenly, getting up and heading to his bedroom.

I sat there picking at my food, afraid that if I ate too much I would vomit, but also trying to ignore the hungry cries of my stomach. I could hear Bash's muffled voice. He sounded pissed. I could tell he was trying not to yell, he didn't want me to see how scared he was or how out of control he felt, but he was angry.

He came out after about 20 minutes and sat down, digging into his cold breakfast.

"I have my security team searching video footage to see if we can figure out who those guys were. They will never be allowed back in again. Also," he said, taking a bite of toast, "you will not go out drinking without me."

"Okay Dad," I said scoffing.

"Jules, I'm serious. You're a hot girl who goes out in less than appropriate attire to drink. This was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Are you trying to call me a slut?" I said, mildly offended.

"No, you're just very attractive and you like to have a good time. And the male population of Seattle is... less than pure. So, if you have a desire to party, you will do it in my club, under my watch."

"Bash, you can't save me from everything," I argued. "Look, I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me, you saved me and that means a lot. But you can't order me around. You may be used to owning everything and everyone, but you can't own me.

His eyes bored into mine. If looks could kill...

"Where is my dress?" I asked, "And my purse? My phone?"

"Your purse and phone are at the club. You can pick them up whenever you want. Your dress mysteriously vanished," he said curtly.

"What the hell does that mean?" I snapped. The lack of food was getting to me.

"It means," he raised his voice, "That those boys tried to touch you while you were wearing that dress. Pick a new dress. Preferably one that doesn't leave your ass hanging out for the world to see."

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, taking a sip of orange juice.

"I don't know," he said, "I really don't know."

Philip Masterson

I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. Colette was in a lacey two piece, her lips puckered and eyes seductively staring at me. I felt my stomach drop.

Immediately, I started to reply to her. It took her a while to read my messages, an hour to be exact. But that's all she did is read them.

Answer me!!! I wrote to her.

A beat later she replied, I'm so sorry... that was meant for Rupert.

How do you confuse Rupert and I? I just shook my head and put my phone away. How do I tell Rupert that this happened without making me look bad? He obviously would think that I made her do this. But maybe, he might have faith in me. Mistakes happen... let's sure hope that this was a mistake.

Then again, how do you confuse Rupert and I?

Can you please not tell Rup about this? The message came up on my phone screen.

I ran my thumbs over the screen, unsure of what to say. Colette was very innocent, I'm sure it was a mistake.

Yeah, I'll keep it hushed.

Again, she just read my message and left it at that. I went ahead and deleted the convo, removing that trace.

"So, black coffee, huh?" Dafnie came up to me, handing me a cup. "What happened to liking cream and sugar Mr. Masterson?"

We were at the hospital, sitting in the waiting room. Nurses were running back and forth, as were doctors. James was just across us with his hands in his lap, staring off into space. I'm sure he was uncomfortable.

The doctors didn't allow any of us into her room. Even when I ran into the ER, screaming at the nurses, they made me sit in my place and wait.

"I need to be kept awake Daffy, black does wonders for that." I replied, sipping my coffee. I swam through the mouth, leaving it with a burnt after taste.

I shifted in my seat, listening to an announcement, a doctor was paging another doctor to pediatrics. The air in the place was sterile and cold, goosebumps rose on my skin.

"James, you aight?" Dafnie asked him.

He looked over and smiled. "Yeah... I suppose."

She looked at me, taking me in. I'm sure that I didn't look the best. I mean, just a couple hours ago I was at home, contemplating why Isabelle would leave me. But I was in a better place, not worrying that my child would die. My second child, correction. Not only that, I have Rup's girlfriend sexting me. Ridiculous.

"Hey, why don't you grab some stuff for Isabelle? Like clothes?" Dafnie suggested. "You can't just sit here."

"No, I'm good Daf."

"She'll probably need something. Go ahead. And maybe stop by the gas station for me, here's a twenty." She tried again.

I watched as she picked through her purse and handed me a twenty dollar bill and her car keys. She really wanted me to get some air. I was the one person here that didn't look too panicked, but I'm sure that Dafnie thought otherwise. Even though Isabelle broke up with me, she still meant everything to me.

There was no reason, in my eyes, for her to end us.

So, I did what Dafnie had told me to do. I got up, surprised that my legs still worked, and found my way through the hospital.

Once I got to the car, I hopped in and just took a few deep breaths. I felt like I needed it. Wasn't sure though. Her Beetle felt cramped, so I turned the key in the ignition and rolled down the windows. The radio came on, playing some kind of Mumford & Sons song.

It was time to go.

My first stop was the gas station. The gas needle was at E and I wasn't too sure if it'd make if farther down the street. I pulled up to the diesel pump and hopped out, locking the car. The wind blew against me, exposing the humidity that is summer. I felt sweat bead down my neck. I walked over to the shop and opened the door, a chime welcomed me in. The sales clerk was at the register, smiling at me. I smiled back and decided to walk around the store.

A snack would be nice.

The chips aisle was to my left, so I went down it and just picked up the first thing that caught my eye. Hot Cheetos. As I reached for the bag, another hand collided with mine. I felt a spark once our hands touched, so I pulled away, looking up at the person.

"Colette?" I gasped.

She took a step back, her cheeks blushed pink.

"Oh, hey Philip." Her French accent was now enticing. "Here, take it, you seem to need them more than I."

I looked at the bag of Cheetos she was handing to me.

"Nah, dude, keep 'em. You need them."

She smiled, grabbing another bag. Somehow we both didn't realize there were more bags of the chips. And now I feel dumb grabbing a bag. But, I did anyway.

"Look, I'm really sorry about... the pictures." She sighed.

I smiled, "Dude, it's okay. Shit happens. On the plus side, now you get an opinion for the pics. Maybe don't pucker your lips, every girl does that."

Her cheeks seemed to get even more pink. My stomach flipped, "Send them to Rup, I'm sure he will love them."

"Can we, not talk about this ever again? I don't think I want to send anything to him yet."

"I understand," I took a deep breath. "Impulsive decisions are never the best."

"Yeah..." she paused, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's going on with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Ugh --I don't know really what's happening to be honest with you."

She nodded, "I see, well, you do you. I'm gonna go home and try to not feel self conscious about my life." she giggled sarcastically.

"Colette, you looked beautiful. I'm sure Rupert would love to get them. Trust me." I told her.

Our eyes met as she smiled at me. It was weird, but, I didn't wanna not look at her. I am not sure how to explain this. My skin felt like fire.

"Thanks Phil,"

Rupert Jean Franz

Hanging with Hawthorne was different than I had anticipated. She seemed to open up way more than usual, as if I was her best friend. I was a little shocked but I ignored it. Maybe she needed the friendship.

Especially since Dafnie is off doing her whatever thing and Colette is... uneasy.

Sooo uneasy.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, blinking Philip's name and a picture of him. I slid my finger over the screen and answered it.

"Yo," I smiled.

I happened to be back home. My mother went to a meeting, I don't know when and I don't know for how long. All I know is that when I came back from Hawthorne's, she was gone and Pamela, our maid, was smiling.

"I don't know who else to talk to." He said, panic running through his voice.

My heart started to race, imagining what could have happened. Even though we weren't that lose anymore, I still considered him my best friend and I'm sure he felt the same. Maybe, someday, we'd go back to it.

I sure hope so.

"What happened?"

"You're gonna kill me... fuck, I wanna kill me." He sounded out of breath.

"Dude," I pushed.

I sat up on my couch, hitting pause on the remote. Fiona Gallagher froze on the screen, yes I was watching Shameless. Sometimes, I felt like my life was just like hers. Sometimes. I definitely was better off... but the drama, the same.

"I got Isabelle pregnant."

My jaw dropped as I tried to contain my laughter. In situations like these, I laughed. Serious topics made me all dumb and giggly. Guess 'cause I didn't know how to take it.

"Fuck dude," I burst out laughing. Guess that did not work.

"Yeah, I know. How do I get two girls pregnant within two years?!"

"Do you need the talk? Birds and bees?" I said in between laughs.

"Dude, not funny. I'm... I'm... I don't even know. I cannot have two babies!"

I calmed down, containing myself. He needed me right now. I switched my phone to my other ear and sighed. What the fuck Philip.

"Shit happens man." I huffed. "Fuck dude, before the ripe age of eighteen, you're fast."

"You sound like Dafnie."

Just at the sound of her name my stomach dropped.

"Yeah, she's pretty smart."

"What am I gonna do? Fuck dude... she might have a miscarriage." his voice dropped as did my heart.

"Fuck, maybe then you don't have to worry about another baby? I now it sounds bad... but... you'd be better off? And I'm sure she'd be okay with it too."

He took a minute to think this through.

"Well, we could give it up to adoption if anything. It's not the babies fault."

"I never said it was, it was your guys' fault. I'm just saying, it wouldn't be terrible... but adoption works. I know I sound cold-hearted, I'd rather the baby lived... but. Shit man."

A second passed as we just sat in silence. I could hear the hospital in the background, nurses paging doctors, stuff like that. Then I heard Dafnie laugh, goosebumps grew on my arms. I could tell Dafnie's laugh, odd.

"On top of that... your girlfriend mistaked me for you... and sent me sexts. Like almost nude photos." He paused, assuming I'd say something, but I couldn't, my mind just blanked out. "It's not like it was on purpose. She wanted to impress you or something cause she's not really close to you right now and, look dude, I deleted the convo, we're good?" he said hurriedly.

"It's, wow." My heart skipped a beat. "It's okay, shit happens, right? It was a mistake."

And somehow, deep down, I didn't think it was a mistake. My trust for Philip was still low, but he told me about it. So, he couldn't have been lying about this. Why? But Colette, I do not know.

She's not herself at all.

"You there?" he asked, worry licking his words.

"Yeah, look, call me when you know about Iss, I hope everything is okay. My mother needs me. Bye." and I hung up without hearing him protest.

Dafnie Serena Leto

I over heard Philip's conversation with Rupert. He may have walked away to the hallway, but he didn't know that I purposely sat closer to the wall, just to see what they were talking about. I was worried about him, he seemed rattled.

But what I heard, I did not want to hear.

Colette sent Philip sexts? The fuck? Their names are so different, that couldn't have been a mistake. Right when I heard it, I ran to the ladies room, dialing her up.

The dial tone went off for a few seconds then she answered.

"Cole, what the fuck." I hissed.

She didn't say anything, I felt the tension grow between us. I sat down on the counter, feeling the smooth granite beneath me, cold as ice.

"What?" She asked, her voice raw.

"You sent Philips sexts? What is wrong with you?"

"He said he wouldn't tell anyone!" She protested. "And that was an accident! They were meant for Rupert, bet he didn't mention that." she hissed back.

I took in a breath. "Oh, he did say that. But I don't believe that. Cole, their names are completely different."

"I know they are, but I was in a hurry. I didn't purposely send them to him!"

I felt my heart sink. I know I sounded like a bitch to my best friend, but deep down in my gut, I couldn't believe her for the life of me. I should be on her side, protecting her, but, that felt wrong.

"But you did. Maybe you were in a hurry and you wanted to send them to him and didn't think about it. You probably noticed his name but did not take it into account." I paused. "Dude, you could've done that without knowing."

"Don't go all psych on me Dafnie. It was an accident, I swear. Why oh why would I want Philip to see my sexts?"

"Because it's intriguing. A different guy looking at you instead of the same, lame one. The one that cares and loves for you. You want a new guy, a man whore. You want someone who'll make you feel wanted."

She didn't reply, just left her side dead silent. I even checked the phone to see if she was still there, she was.

"You just called Phil a man whore." she pointed out.

"That's all you heard?"

"You're an ass, you know that?" she changed topics.

"So you agree? You want a new guy?" Now I sounded like Regina George.

I heard her huff, "I don't know... maybe."

"Fuck, what happened with Rupert? He's a great guy, why would you want to give that up? He takes care of you. God, fuck, he loves you."

Defending Rupert was weird. Cause not two years ago, he and Philip were man whores. Literally jumping from girl to girl, not giving two fucks. But now, they've both changed. I guess if you do get the right girls, you can change. But now, here's the girl that changed Rupert's life, wanting him to leave her.

"I love him too... but I think I need space. I was with him when, this happened and being with him reminds me of it." her voice was low, as if she was telling me a secret.

"Dude, you can't blame him for what happened." I retorted.

"I'm not!" She cackled. "But being with him reminds me... that's not his fault Daf, it's mine. And I don't want him to feel the burden anymore."

"Also?"

"Also what?"

"You don't want him anymore."

She paused, taking in a breath.

"That's not true."

"You literally just said that."

"No, what I said was I didn't want him to feel the burden. That's why having someone new would be great so then I could change my life, leave that bullshit in the past." That was the first time I heard her swear.

"Huh, well, you're being irrational. Think this through, cause he's not worth losing. You changed him."

"I didn't want to."

--Carina--

"You forgot to let people in."

He was drenched in the onslaught of the downpour, catching the worst of the storm in the pits of his collarbone. His hair was a sports commercial. I started to cry then; a pathetic, sobbing mess. He only stared at me, shocked at my sudden breakdown. I felt like the gameshow contestant I laughed at for crying on TV; like some angel had touch-landed on my shoulder and decided to experiment with all of the things that were never supposed to happen.

None of it was supposed to happen. I was just supposed to coast through life and spend my free time excavating information on my cheating mother, and masking my secret resentfulness towards my absentee father. Riley was never meant to be involved.

I hated myself for being so naive.

"You forgot to let people in."

"I did let you in," I hiccuped as thunder rolled across the sky. He started to counter, and I screamed over him. "You don't even know me!" I yelled through tears. I wiped my nose. I could feel the rain pooling underneath my eyes. "You act like I'm this great girl, but you don't even know me."

"I wanted to," he said. There was a pause. He met my eye. "But y'know what, Carrie?" he finally said. "If you want me gone that badly, then go ahead and leave. Go ahead and leave, and I'll let you go."

Pedestrians hurried on past, blocking the sight of us with their umbrellas. We were alone in our bubble, the gloom settling over Seattle, the white noise of the torrential rain droning in our ears. I was shivering. Hands trembling, I tugged my sleeves over my palms.

"And what if I don't want you gone?" I asked him, lip shaking.

"Then kiss me," he said.

His nose was pink. He squinted at me, inhaling like a vacuum, mouth agape as water dripped down his chin.

I shook my head and shakily wiped my nose on my wrist. Then I stepped forward in a rush and hugged him, my cheek against his, my eyes raw and red as mascara ran down my face.

Then I asked him to take me home, and he whispered okay, and then we huddled to his truck, piling in before the wheels slipped off down the street. I fell asleep on the window as he drove, breath clouding in the heat.

It seemed like a moment later when I felt a nudge on the shoulder, and my eyes fluttered open. Riley was putting the car in park, but he kept the engine running. We were stopped outside my house.

Riley said nothing; he just stared stoically ahead, eyes attached to the windshield. The rain had slowed, but the sky was still black. He was done with me; I could see it in his eyes. I'd made mistakes I couldn't correct. There he had been; perfect and willing to give me a fighting chance, but I threw it away for a pesky hug and some short-lived drama.

I despised myself for letting him go. My mind grasped for fixing words, but found none, and no sooner had the door clicked open than my body was sliding out of my seat.

There came a point when all I had left was the slam of the door.

Say something to him.

But all that came out of my mouth was a soft "Thanks" before the door swung shut.

--

"Look who it is."

I was at the carnival and nearing the end of my shift. It was almost eight o'clock, so the boy who'd just approached the ticket booth was barely visible.

He ducked his head closer, and my eyes settled on his pretentious--nice, but pretentious--hair. "Jake," I greeted, purposefully getting his name wrong.

"James," he corrected smoothly, clicking his tongue. A smile spread across his face; the same smile he'd graced me with on the day we met at Seb Trapani's party. The one he probably flashed to the scouts when they came to watch his football games. Crinkles in the eyes and everything. (Though, I did realize the irrationality of this, since didn't they wear helmets in football? I doubted anybody would be able to see the smile through the mask.)

"Right," I deadpanned. "Just one?" I tapped the ticket machine with my forefinger. He cleared his throat and nodded, fishing in his pocket for a wallet. He was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt, pushed up to the elbows. I passively noted how it matched his eyes--almost to a T.

Unlike at the party, he looked completely sober, and the drunken sway of his walk had disappeared with any traces of the booze that had itched its way into his smell. Now, I could only make out the faint odor of soap.

"Carrie, right? Trahan's date from Bash's party?" He was still reaching in his pocket. I wondered how long it really took to find his wallet in there.

I absentmindedly toyed with my own visor. Thumbing one ticket from the dispenser, I said, "Yup, I'm Carrie."

"You look different in work clothes," he remarked, matching my matter-of-fact tone. He slid a ten dollar bill across the counter.

"And you smell better when you're not drinking," I replied, taking the money.

This made him crack a smile. "Good to know."

I deposited the bill in the cash register, and then skimmed the counter with my fingernails. "Have a nice day," I told him, repeating the last piece of my carnival-worker monologue.

"See you around," he told me, flashing me one last smile before he disappeared from sight. I decided his smile was his best feature.

I strolled to the back of the booth; it was time for me to clock out. Afterwards, I rubbed my hands over the goosebumps sprouting on my arms. I braved the breeze on the walk to my car.

I tossed a glance over my shoulder, lights of the carnival rides reflecting in my eyes. The sign at the entrance was still half-painted.

On my way out, I looked for the guy on the ladder.

I didn't find him.